Hindi
Americannoun
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the most widely spoken of the modern Indic vernaculars, especially its best-known variety, Western Hindi.
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a literary language derived from Hindustani, used by Hindus.
noun
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a language or group of dialects of N central India. It belongs to the Indic branch of the Indo-European family and is closely related to Urdu See also Hindustani
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a formal literary dialect of this language, the official language of India, usually written in Nagari script
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a person whose native language is Hindi
Etymology
Origin of Hindi
First recorded in 1790–1800; from Hindi, Urdu, equivalent to Persian Hind, Hindu (compare Sanskrit Sindhu “river,” specifically the Indus river, with the extended sense “region of the Indus; Sind”) + -ī a suffix indicating relationship or origin; replacing Hinduee, from Persian Hinduī; see also Sind
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I want my son's body to be returned to us. We should also be told what happened in his final moments," his father, Rajesh Sharma, told BBC Hindi.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
Appearances included a Dubai conference where the digital double introduced itself in French, Chinese and Hindi from a big screen in a meeting room.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Jhaj, who speaks some Hindi, which he learnt in a government school around their settlement, has become a keen volleyball player.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
Branch manager Sushant Kumar Sethi told BBC Hindi that Munda had initially said his sister was paralysed and unable to visit the bank, and that staff had offered to visit her at home.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
If this were one of the Hindi movies Hassan and I used to watch, this was the part where I’d run outside, my bare feet splashing rainwater.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
